Witcher 3 - Preview @ Gamespot

Less ugly is CD Projekt Red's approach to the series' depiction of sex. Geralt is defined in the Witcher books as a good lover, and he'll have his fair share of sexual adventures in The Witcher 3, though Platkow-Gilewski says that all of these romances will be strongly connected to the story. "It will never happen just for the sake of having more sex in the games," he continues. "That's not our point. It's not a Pokemon way, like 'collect them all.'"

Given The Witcher 3's focus on open-world monster hunting, Platkow-Gilewski didn't rule out the possibility of a monster encounter becoming more intimate. "It happened in the past," he hints. "It depends what kind of monsters Geralt will have to face. But it's not a way of beating the monster." Regardless of how monstrous Geralt's mistresses may be, CD Projekt Red is keeping The Witcher 3's sex scenes free of interactivity, avoiding the use of quick-time events in them--and in the rest of the game entirely.

CD Projekt Red has also overhauled the series' alchemy system, although Geralt won't be brewing any love potions. Platkow-Gilewski says that alchemy in The Witcher 2 was "not rewarding," because you had to somehow know in advance the type of enemies you were about to face in order to imbibe the right cocktail of magical buffs. "Now, you will have a few charges of the effect of the potion," Platkow-Gilewski continues. "It's not like you're drinking and have a certain period where you have to act really fast. You can use the specific effect of this potion when it's needed." CD Projekt Red believes this makes investing in the alchemy skill tree more viable than before, whilst the other two skill trees--sword mastery and magic--will be filled out with more active abilities rather than passive skills.